Kingdom of Fire, Village of Water
by rikuta-yue
Summary: Living inside a castle everyday, Sonic had never see anyone quite like the other before.
1. The Tiny Spark of Love

**Random new fanfic that I wrote on the bus! Yay! NOW READ IT.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sonic or any other characters! They belong to SEGA kids! SEGA.**

**Kingdom of Fire, Village of Water: Chapter One: The Tiny Spark of Love**

Living inside a castle everyday, Sonic had never see anyone quite like the other before. From the inside of his carriage, he spotted a young man around his age with a sleek black body and upturned quills. On his chest was a small tuft of fur and he had crimson red streaks running down his limbs and quills. He was... gorgeous. A being of perfection even. The young man turned his head and the ruby eyes widened. He lifted the little rabbit girl and ushered the little kids he was taking care of into a small house.

"Stop the carriage."

The squirrel driving the carriage grunted and pulled on the reigns, stopping the horses.

"Prince Sonic, we have arrived at The Village of Water."

Sonic nodded and stepped out of the carriage seeing how the village seemed oddly empty. He walked to the nearest building and knocked on the large door, noticing it was the front of the small house the male hedgegog had rushed into.

The front door opened revealing a pale human girl with blonde hair.

"H-hello. M-may I help you?"

"Good afternoon miss. I am Prince Sonic and I am looking for a place to stay. May I stay here?" Sonic asked her.

She stuttered and turned around to find someone to ask. A white hedgehog ran over to the girl and grabbed her hand. "Maria! Shadow said you're not allowed to talk to strangers! It's dangerous!"

"But Silver, he said he was Prince Sonic."

Silver peered past the girl's shoulder and saw the royal hedgehog standing there.

"P-prince Sonic!" The hedgehog gasped. "I am so sorry! Please let me get the head of the house!"

Silver bowed again and rushed out of the room, telling the girl to invite the prince in and prepare some tea. Maria stepped aside to let Sonic in apologizing that the room wasn't so great. The prince only laughed it off and told her to sit down and chat with him.

Loud footsteps came from the floor above them and finally, a black hedgehog with blue stripes much like the hedgehog he saw earlier came down from the stairs. In fact he looked exactly like the other one except without a mouth, snake like green eyes, a black coat lined with gold, and a more masculine body. After him came Silver and a small fox.

Maria turned towards them. "Where's Shadow?"

"Cream." The human girl nodded.

Confused, Sonic wondered how the striped hedgehog could talk without a mouth. Or anything for the sound to come out of.

The hedgehog turned to face him. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you Prince Sonic. My name is Mephiles." He gestured at himself. "This is Silver who I think you've met," Silver waved at him. "And the kid is Tails. He is an absolute genius for his age and is currently working on some new type of technology." The boy fox hid behind Silver, peeking out occasionally at the royal hedgehog.

"Who the fuck is here at this time of day?"

Appearing from the top of the stairs, the crimson striped hedgehog came down carrying a small toddler rabbit. His white boots seemed to have some sort of rocket on their bottoms and the gold rings wrapped around his wrists and ankles gleamed. A slightly dirty white apron tied at the waist was the only clothing he had beside his gloves and shoes.

Mephiles spun around. "This is Prince Sonic from the Kingdom of Fire. He's the **new** one."

Shadow scoffed. "The last fucking thing I need. Just great."

"Fuck!" Exclaimed the little rabbit.

Shadow shushed her, telling that no, she couldn't say that word and no, she wasn't allowed at all.

The striped hedgehog gently set the small rabbit girl on the ground and pushed through the tiny crowd of people in the room. "Only **you** can stay. All your servants and whatever aren't coming near this house." His pointer finger stabbed the air, pointing at the prince, his expression hardening. "And don't you dare come near me!"

Whipping around, Shadow motioned for the others to follow him, picking up the small rabbit again. "Silver. Stay with him." He stomped up the stairs, everyone else following him. Mephiles was the last one to make his way up.

"You better watch your back 'cause what you wish for is impossible in this town."

Sonic watched them all travel upstairs. Well that was rude. It's not like he meant to intrude. Ok, maybe he did but still. Silver brought over a cup of tea for him, blowing at it to cool it down a bit. Saying a quick 'thank you', Sonic took the small cup from him and took a few sips before setting it down.

"I'm sorry for their behavior. Shadow has a... um..." Silver paused, searching for the right word. "He has a history with the fire kingdom."

The blue prince cocked his head, interested in what the other hedgehog had to say. He never heard anything about this 'Shadow' figure so how did he have a history with the Kingdom of Fire?

"I can't tell you." Silver said, reading Sonic's mind. "Sorry. Shadow forbids it."

The prince nodded understanding the words. Such a shame. He picked up the little cup again and started sipping at it again, trying to start up some type of conversation.

"So, what is this tea made out of?"

The white hedgehog lit up and happily started explaining about how the tea was made, pulling the prince into the kitchen and pulling out the ingredients to show him how to make it. Sonic felt that this hedgehog was probably the only one that was going to get along with him. The other interesting characters in the house were a little too, ah, moody.

Laughing along with Silver when he spilled the tea leaves, Silver sent him in the direction of the washroom to clean himself up, saying that he would go get some clean clothes for him, though Silver himself usually never wore any besides pants, gloves, and shoes, not that he really needed any clothes.

Shadow placed the small brown rabbit carefully into it's cradle. She was a war orpan named Cream and Shadow had found her with many others in the small, destroyed village. The other people that were traveling with him decided that they were going to settle down in the area. As the one that seemed to care about the kids the most, he took in all of them and was soon known as 'Mom' within the village even though he was of the male gender.

"Mama."

Shadow turned around, finding a small little girl with a rose in her green hair shifting on her two feet, holding the small stuffed rabbit Shadow had sewn her.

"Yes Cosmo?"

The soft-spoken girl raised her two arms up, clutching the rabbit in her left hand.

"Hug."

Smiling, the black hedgehog scooped up the little kid, making sure to pick up the rabbit when she dropped it. Cosmo snuggled into Shadow's chest fur, making herself comfortable in the hedgehog's arms while he was cradling her. Shadow rocked his arms back and forth, gently rocking her to sleep.

Cosmo's drowsy eyes looked up into Shadow's ruby ones, silently telling him good night.

And Shadow opened his mouth to sing, his voice low and melodic, not at all like his usual rough speaking voice.

_Sleep well, my little baby_  
><em>Tomorrow's a better day<em>  
><em>I wish there was a better way but, may I say this this way<em>

_You'll always be my baby_  
><em>You'll always be my friend<em>  
><em>And so whatever you do<em>  
><em>I'll be with you to the end<em>

_Sleep well, my little baby_  
><em>Tomorrow's a brighter day<em>  
><em>Hold on tight, just awhile<em>  
><em>I'll make sure you see the way<em>

_Play around in the flowers_  
><em>Roll around in the sand<em>  
><em>But make sure you come back<em>  
><em>Into these protective hands<em>

_Dream well, little baby_  
><em>I love you to the end<em>  
><em>And so, may you be happy<em>  
><em>If I'm never there again<em>

Shadow smiled down at the girl, watching her fall asleep murmuring to herself while playing with her small fingers.

Leaning down as he place her in the crib next to Cream, Shadow bent over and planted a small kiss on her forehead.

"Good night Cosmo."

He blew out the candle.

Sonic stepped out from behind a shower curtain, pulling out a rather clean towel from all his travel supplies. Wrapping it around his waist, he stepped into the main washroom where Silver had set clothes out for hin earlier.

_"Hey Prince Sonic, I'm putting your clothes here."_

_Silver walked into the washroom and saw the blue hedgehog pulling his pants off. Blushing as red as Shadow's streaks, he threw himself out of the room while covering his eyes._

_"Sorry!" He screamed, earning a chuckle from the prince._

Sonic grinned to himself. Grabbing the white shirt, he pulled it on over his head. The shirt had a low v-line that went to his stomach and was baggy at the ends of the sleeves and then tied, resulting in a slight poof in the sleeve. The pants were tan and had a red sash at the top that was adjustable to fit most.

Sonic pulled on his black boots and tied the gold laces, tightening them as he did. The door pushed open as Silver strolled in.

"You done?"

"Yeah."

"M'kay. I'll show you you're room."

Silver led Sonic up the stairs to a closed wooden door that had a sign with the words 'get out' spelled out in red letters. Pushing the door open, Sonic's eyes saw the black hedgehog with red streaks.

"What do you want?" Shadow demanded.

"Well, Mephiles told me that since you have the biggest room, you're sharing with Sonic."

The black hedgehog muttered a curse and stood up, slamming the book he was reading shut. He walked over to the closet and pushed open the door, revealing a smaller room inside it with a couple of blankets and mattresses littered all over the ground.

"Then I'm sleeping in here with the kids. Don't you dare come in."

He slammed the door shut leaving Silver and Sonic standing there shocked. Silver suddenly started grinning like crazy, barely being able to hold his laughter.

"OH WHAT NOW MEPHILES! I JUST WON THE EFFING BET! BEAT THAT!"

Mephiles appeared randomly in front of the two hedgehogs, his snake green eyes wide.

"What do you mean by that!?"

"I told you Shadow wouldn't sleep in the same room as him! Now, go and get me that cake!"

Mephiles grumbled to himself, flipping his third finger up for a second before quickly lowering it and stomping out of the room. Sonic stared after him before directing his line of vision at the white hedgehog with an unimpressed and questioning look on his face. Silver continued to grin widely and just shrugged.

Sonic shook his head. He had thought that Mephiles was the serious and authoritative one out of the weird family. Apparently he enjoyed having fun too. Silver was an average teenager, or at least in his standards, and Shadow was a gorgeous emotionless person. 'Yep. I'm definitely surrounded by a crazy bunch.' He thought, staring at the other.

"What?"

**And another start of another fanfiction! Woot! So many things at once! This one was something I kinda started on the bus and I decided why not finish it? 1896 words. Not bad. The bet thing at the end kinda just popped up. I was gonna end it with Shadow singing but why end it there? So I made a horrible joke.**

**Maid Cafe Chapter 5 is halfway done kids! I kinda have a short writer's block which will probably be gone by tomorrow so don't worry!**


	2. Midnight Musings

**Gah! I'm SO SLOW! I meant to post this on Valentine's day but oh well. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Changes in the Water Level**

Shadow rolled over on his makeshift bed, not being able to fall asleep. He felt someone grab onto his chest fur and grinned when he saw Tails cuddling into him. Shadow gave him a quick peck on the forehead and grabbed a furry stuffed animal, placing it in Tails' arms. He got up and snuck back into his normal room, being careful not to wake the kids.

"Oh, hey Shadow. You still awake?" Came the voice of the prince.

Startled, Shadow noticed that a dim light was on in the room and Sonic was wide awake on his bed, wrting in something. "Yeah, so what? I'm just getting a book." He rushed over to a bookcase and his fingers searched for a book he hadn't read yet. He then noticed he had read every single one of them. Shadow sighed and started to head towards the door, deciding that he was going to take a quick trip to the bookstore and pay a friend a quick visit.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business."

Shadow stalked out of the room, making the gesture of slamming the door but stopped before he actually made a noise. He closed the door silently just in case one if the kids woke up. Shadow walked quietly down the stairs, careful about setting his boots on the ground. He went over to the front door and turned the knob, ready to go out.

"Mom, are you going to Aunt Rouge's?"

Once again, Shadow was startled by the sudden sound and found the young orange fox behind him.

"Tails, what are you doing up this late! Go back to bed." His hand pointed up the stairs.

"B-but the prince scares me. I want to go see Aunt Rouge!"

The comment about the prince instantly makes Shadow want to bring Tails with him. Giving up, he scooped the fox into a hug. "Fine, but we got tell Silver first okay?" He said, earning a happy nod from Tails.

Shadow smiled and set Tails down again, putting his finger to his mouth for the quiet symbol. Tails blocked his mouth and followed Shadow to Silver's room, waiting for the white hedgehog to open his door after Shadow knocked. After two minutes, the black hedgehog pushed open the door and walked over to the sleeping hedgehog.

"Blaze is here Silver."

"WHAT WHERE!? WHERE IS SHE!? BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZE!"

Shadow slapped Silver, feeling as though this has happened one too many times. "Why does that wake you up every time?" He asked, earning a shrug from the hedgehog looking up at him.

"I don't know. I-I just haven't seen her for awhile I guess..." Sadness flashes through Silver's eyes and Shadow can't help but feel sorry for him. Pulling Silver into a tight hug, he tried to make him feel better.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

Tails watched from the entrance of the room, obviously not understanding what was going on but thought the two needed some time. He sat down on the wooden floor, crossed his legs, and stared off at the window, quietly reciting the periodic table to himself. His ears picked up the sound of boots on the floor and looked up, finding the look-a-like of Shadow.

"Mephiles?"

The blue striped hedgehog nodded towards him and made his way over to the other two. He held his arms open, allowing the other two to embrace him.

"It's okay." He said.

"Yeah."

Cosmo woke up in an seemingly empty room. Even though the other little girls were there, they didn't seem to have personality to her. Just some average little girls who acted too cliche for their own good. Unlike the black hedgehog. Unlike Mama.

Even though she was old enough to be out of her crib, she was fine with Shadow still having her sleep in the small space. It's not like they had the money to buy anything too extravagant. Climbing out of her crib quietly, she place her feet gently on the ground still clutching her favored stuffed animal, the rabbit.

Cosmo could hear the sound of quiet sobbing coming from the other room accompanied by comforting words from a low voice, who she recognized as Mephiles. Walking over to the closet door, she pulled it open revealing the other room on the other side and the blue prince.

"Hello! Who are you?" The hedgehog asked her. Cosmo remained silent, her eyes showing no emotion towards the prince.

"Nothing huh? Well, I'm Prince Sonic but just Sonic is fine." His hand reached out to her.

Hesitantly, Cosmo reached over and took Sonic's hand in her own and muttered her own name out. Sonic grinned at her, making Cosmo smile a little bit. She moved herself next to the prince, plopping herself down on the bed next to him.

"What are you writing?" Her soft voice said.

Sonic glanced at her before slamming the book shut, his face turing red. "W-well it's a story I'm writing?"

"Why are you questioning yourself?" Cosmo said. "Is it that private?"

Sonic stuttered his face turning slightly red. Giving up, he handed the book over to Cosmo, who studied the cover and designs very carefully before actually flipping open to the actual pages. Her face showed absolutely no emotion when reading and Sonic was clearly surprised that she could comprehend his messy writing, much less, read.

Cosmo closed the book and set it next to her in a slow dramatic way. "You're homosexual."

Sonic flushed, his face turning a darked shade of red. "Why!? Why do you know these big words!?"

"Shadow."

The blue prince stared at the little girl, surprised by the little girl's one-word answer. "What?"

"Shadow."

Sonic came to the conclusion that Shadow had taught Cosmo how to read, write, and use terms that usually weren't used by 5-year olds. The blue hedgehog chuckled and turned to look at the little girl.

"So what did Shadow teach you?"

The girl seemed to light up, though her facial expression barely changed. She walked over to the bookcase and skimmed the shelves until she found her books. Sonic watched her struggle for a few moments before going over and reaching for the book that was on a high shelf. Cosmo thanked him and gathered the rest of her things before sitting back down and patting the spot next to her.

Sonic sat down and watched as Cosmo flipped the pages, showing off a bunch of equations and other types of fancy math that a 5-year old definitely shouldn't know. She later showed him all her books and comprehension questions that Shadow had given her to do when she was bored.

"You're a smart cookie you know!" Sonic said and Cosmo gave him a questioning look, not understanding what the term 'smart cookie' meant. Sonic sighed and shook his head. "It means you're really smart."

Shadow walked outside into the cold air, the wind blowing what was left of his tears dry. The three hedgehog occupants of the house would occasionally grieve over their loss of their close friends who died in a war a couple of years ago. They had to make sure that none of the kids would find out during that time, so they locked them in the basement of the house.

The princess of the Soul Kingdom, Blaze the Cat, was a close friend of Sliver's. In fact, Silver had grown up in the Soul Kingdom, serving under the princess. When Shadow and Mephiles had passed through picking up anyone who wanted to join them, Silver had automatically joined, calling them his 'big brothers'. Mephiles had requested a time to meet her majesty and was granted a few minutes to talk to Blaze. They stayed in a local town for a few days before Blaze decided she was going to join them on their adventures and Silver was ecstatic.

When they went to war with a few groups of bounty hunters, trying to protect the Village of Water, Blaze and a few others had suffered from too many injuries, resulting in death. Thus, Blaze's bookstore was taken over by the previous treasure hunter, Rouge the Bat.

"Mom! Wait for me!"

Shadow turned around and saw Tails running towards him in the few seconds before the kid pounced on him, making Shadow fall over.

"Oops! I'm sorry mom!" Tails said apologetically. Shadow chuckled and picked up the fox, putting him on his shoulders, giving him a shoulder ride.

"It's fine."

They passed by a couple closed shops that were run by the couple of villagers they had around. There was one cake shop that had the huge cake that Silver had forced Mephiles to buy for him after winnning a bet. Mephiles had yet to get it, though Shadow had no idea why. He could just get it done and over with already.

The two stopped in front of a large building that had an 'CLOSED' sign hanging one the front door. The bookstore was actually just the first floor of Rouge's house, the second floor being her living quarters.

Shadow pulled the opened the door with his key that Rouge had kindly given to him and a small bell rang, announcing their arrival. He set Tails down and turned on the lights to the store. The fox immediately bolted off into a section of the bookstore, leaving the black hedgehog to search for the bat. Shadow went over to the front counter and found Rouge sleeping away, surrounded by a mountain of books.

Though the place was called a 'bookstore' Rouge decided she would let people borrow and return books like it was a library. Of coures, some people still prefered to buy books so she made sure she always had a new copy in her storage room.

Shadow gently shook Rouge trying to wake her up. "Rouge. It's Shadow. Wake up."

The white bat shifted and slowly opened her eyes, still wanting to sleep until she saw Shadow. She sat up in her chair and stretched, pulling her arms above her head.

"Good to see you here this late Shadow. Want to help me sort these books out?" She asked immediately. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"I should be an employee here, after helping you so much." He said. "By the way, you still owe me for running all your errands the other day."

"Whatever. Is Tails here too?" Shadow nodded and watched the bat go off in search of the small fox who called her 'Aunt Rouge'.

Shadow looked at the pile of books and sighed. He grabbed the first and flipped through it, getting completely addicted to reading and not bothering to do the job Rouge had given him. The book's cover was extremely detailed, covered with intricate designs and a few gems. As he kept reading, he found that it seemed to be a dairy of some sort. He flipped the last filled page, looking for the author of the dairy.

In cursive, three words are written.

_Blaze the Cat_

**Okay I'm sorry. Gah this chapter seems like such a filler. I'M SORRY! I'll add some drama and interesting stuff in later. Yes I killed Blaze. OR DID I?**


	3. Changes in the Water Level

**Totally forgot to update this on FF. Oops. Sorry guys...**

* * *

><p><strong>Changes in the Water Level<strong>

Shadow flipped through the pages of the diary, not caring if this was an invasion of privacy.

_June 10th_

_Time passes as I sit around__, supposedly guarding the Sol Emeralds. But is it really worth it? Anyone that even wants them are simple thieves with nothing better to do and those greedy of power._

_Blaze~_

_July 1st_

_This marks my fifth year in reign__. It's idiotic that I'm still a princess even if they have no complete castle went full out with a celebration, naming it the 'Soul Festival'. The streets of the village_ _were crowded with people. I hate it._

_Blaze~_

Shadow smiled. Blaze was never a fan of crowds and honestly, he wasn't either. It made all the sense to him that they were close friends. He skimmed over the next few entries, searching for the ones that were written around the time his group had arrived at the Soul Kingdom.

_September 11th,_

_Silver reported that a group of hedgehogs had stopped by the local inn, calling them his 'big brothers'. They seem like good people from what I hear. I overheard the maids gossiping about this red striped 'Shadow', calling him a motherly figure._

_I hope to meet these people._

_Blaze~_

Shadow blinked. 'Do I really give off the mom vibe?' He thought to himself.

Shaking the thought from his mind, Shadow continued reading.

_September 15th,_

_Those hedgehogs have asked for me to join them in their little group. Honsetly, I can't say no. It seems I could have freedom for once instead of being watched constantly and being considered a role model. I can be who I want to be._

_And the maids were right. Shadow is a motherly figure. He dotes on Silver too much._

"I do not dote on Silver!" Shadow exclaimed.

He stuffed the diary into his bag for safe keeping and went to the nonfiction section of the bookstore.

"Aunt Rouge! I want that one!"

"Which one honey?"

"The big brown one covered with sapphires!"

Shadow watched Rouge pull a stool over to stand on. She grabbed the book fron it's high shelf and handed it over to the young fox. Shadow stared at the cover. It had sapphires on the top and bottom and in gold, it was titled "History of the Water Kingdom".

Wait. Since when was there a water kingdom?

"Tails. Let me borrow that book real quick."

The fox handed it over with a slight pout on his face. Shadow flipped to the table of contents and from there, went directly to the 'Alliances' section.

_The Water Kingdom had a close relationship with the Soul Kingdom._

Blah blah blah. Shadow skimmed over the page, searching desperately for the word _Fire._

_It is known that three brothers had once traveled together. Each decided they would settle down and create a kingdom. When the brother of the Fire Kingdom felt that he wasn't powerful enough, he set out to destroy one of the kingdoms, the Water kingdom being the closest. Now all that is remaining are a few knights and a small village._

_List of Survivors:_  
><em>-Sir Mephistopheles<em>  
><em>-Sir<em>_ Lamorak_  
><em>-Sir Lancelot<em>  
><em>-Sir Mordred<em>  
><em>-The Mage<em>  
><em>-And a few unnamed villagers<em>

_List of the Dead: -Sir Galahad -Lady Percival -Sir Gawain  
>-Lady of the Lake<br>-Gerald Robotnik __  
><em>

The rest of the list was smudged but that was enough information for Shadow. Maria's grandfather was killed by those disgusting people of the fire kingdom.

Shadow grabbed Tails and made a beeline to the door. "I'll be taking this as my payment for those chores!" He said, leaving Rouge by herself, surrounded by books.

Shadow barged into the house they lived in and ran up the steps, his metal boots clanging on the ground. Tails chased after him but unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and ended up going to Silver's room to see what the hedgehog was up to. Shadow's gloved hand shoved the door to his room open.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"

Said blue hedgehog looked up from the book he was reading with Cosmo. Shadow was breathing heavily and in his hand was a book open to a page about the fire kingdom. Sonic stared at it blankly.

"The meaning of what?"

Shadow threw the book straight at Sonic's face. The book hit and landed on the ground with a thud. Cosmo carefully picked it up and flipped to the table of contents. She stared at it for awhile before flipping randomly through the book. Her fingers stopped on the page Shadow originally was on and skimmed over it, absorbing all the knowledge.

"Prince Sonic, you may have not noticed but your kind is not welcomed here."

Mephiles was appearing from the ground in the spot where Shadow's shadow **(oops)** was. He put an arm around Shadow in an attempt the angered hedgehog down. The black hedgehog's pupils were getting smaller and smaller. Shadow gripped onto Mephiles's coat, trying desperately to hang onto reality and not going into a full out rage.

"T-take him away from me." He breathed out. "TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!"

Cosmo backed away from the prince. She pushed the closet door open and rushed back to the other children. There was the sound of the door locking behind her.

Silver appeared behind Mephiles followed by Tails. The markings on Silver's gloves were glowing white.

"It's a shame really." Mephiles shook his head. "But we can't afford to keep you here."

Mephiles snapped his fingers and on command, Silver moved his hands, directing the palms towards the prince. An aura surrounded him and Sonic attempted to move but there was no chance. The psychokinesis was too strong for him but he continued to struggle no less.

"IT'S NO USE!" Silver laughed maniacally. **(So sorry. I just love this line. It's so hilarious.)**

The blue hedgehog frowned and just waited to be thrown out. He watched as Silver brought him outside, got the carriage ready, and roughly placed him down inside, locking the doors from the outside. With a snap of his fingers, Mephiles returned all of the prince's belongings to the carriage and brought his men outside.

"Have fun on your trip home prince. We won't miss you."

And with a snap of Mephiles' fingers, the carriage and the prince were gone.

**I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SHORTNESS! The next one will definetly be longer and more interesting. Yeah so I based the names off of the SatBK game. Whatever. I can't think okay?**


	4. Mission

**Gosh. More fillers. Sorry guys. Maid Cafe shall be worked on now. Ahaha this ones finally getting to the good parts. Yep. ~Panda**

* * *

><p>Shadow could not believe his luck. Of all the kingdoms he was going to be sent to to spy, it had to be the Kingdom of Fire. It just had to be.<p>

"Wait. Why does it have to be me? Why can't you send Rouge? Or Espio?"

The king, Mephiles, stared at him with emotionless green eyes. "It's you because you have history with them and because I trust you." He waved Shadow off. "Now go get ready for your journey."

Shadow muttered a curse under his breath and turned around and left, not bothering to bid his king goodbye. Mephiles knew he wasn't going to anyways. His stride was large and slowly quickening, trying to get to his room as quickly as possible so he could punch another hole into his wall. It didn't matter. The servants were going to eventually fix it.

Over the past ten years, the small village had developed into a kingdom filled with people and visitors. Mephiles had been chosen to be the king because of his knowledge and his past experiences. There was the question of who was going to be queen, to which Mephiles had jokingly said Shadow should be it. He ended up with a bruise on his face for several weeks.

The kingdom had come a long way but there was always one law that everyone followed. Law number twenty six. Never have any affairs with the Kingdom of Fire. Ever. Each person followed the rule and respected the reason behind it.

Shadow pushed open the door to find Silver flopped on his bed with a book lying upside down on his face. He was snoring softly and a small puddle of drool had started forming on his rather large amount of chest fur (which he refused to cut).

"Hey. Idiot. Wake up."

Silver rolled onto his side, his sleeping face turning towards Shadow's. The black hedgehog leaned in closer to the other, a glare appearing on his face.

"Wake. Up."

He grabbed Silver by the ear, pinching down real hard, and dragged him off the bed, making sure to add a few hard kicks for good measure. After several more pinches and throwings of the silver hedgehog, Shadow finally managed to wake him up. Silver woke up to find several new bruises forming all over his body. He looked up at Shadow, back at the bruises, and back at Shadow.

"You did this to me?" Shadow responded with a nod.

Silver pouted and then frowned, the face later turning into a glare. Glowing yellow eyes stared into deep crimson ones. "Time for payback."

Silver threw a punch at Shadow's face only to miss when Shadow ducked beneath his fist and kicked him in the knee. The silver hedgehog stumbled before getting back up and striking again. He threw punch after punch, kick after kick but his hard work went to waste when Shadow struck back with a blow to the stomach.

The silver hedgehog pushed himself up from the ground. He glanced over at Shadow who didn't even seem to work up a sweat and only had a scratch mark on his cheek.

"I hate you."

"Why thank you."

Silver moved back onto the bed, rubbing his stomach in pain.

"'What do you want? I was having a good rest from patrolling."

Shadow threw a scroll into the other's lap. Gloved hands moved to open the scroll, revealing neatly handwritten words about a mission. Silver's eyes scanned over the document, looking from top to bottom.

"Blah blah blah, spy, blah blah blah, mission, blah blah blah Kingdom of Fire...," Silver stopped abruptly. "Kingdom of Fire?! Why is Mephiles sending you there?"

Shadow heaved a sigh. "I don't know."

Moments passed by before anyone spoke again.

"You're going to need a change of style then."

So Silver dragged Shadow down the hall, bringing him to the room where Rouge resided in. When he pushed open the door, he found Cosmo and Cream giving eachother makeovers with Rouge braiding Cosmo's hair.

"Hey honey, what do you need?"

"Shadow. Needs. A. Makeover."

Shadow pulled himself away from Silver's grasp. "No I don't! I just need a cloak or something to hide me."

The white bat frowned and moved herself over to a walk-in closet, gesturing for Shadow to follow. The two hedgehogs walked in and were surprised by the amount of clothes the bat owned.

"You said something to cover up right? How about this?"

Rouge held up a red hooded cloak embroidered with gold thread and handed it to Silver. Then she went over to a shelf and pulled out a mask that would only block the bottom half of Shadow's face.

"I heard you were going to the Fire Idiot Kingdom. Might want to start wearing more of their colors." She said, as she pulled out a pair of white boots. "There. Now go change."

Shadow took the clothes and pushed the other two out of the closet even though he didn't have much to show. He valued privacy. He put on what Rouge had given him and dug around for a few accessories and other things to go with the outfit.

When he came out, he was wearing a white uniform lined with gold, a pair of white gloves, his rings around his wrists and ankles, and a pair of white boots that had the rockets installed. The red cloak billowed behind him and in his right hand, he held an green chaos emerald that Rouge had stashed away.

"If I'm going there, I'll need this." He said, holding the emerald up.

Rouge nodded and placed a bag in Shadow's gloved hand.

"Good luck hun. Say hi to anyone you know." She said, smiling. Shadow gave a grunt in response and lifted the emerald into the air.

"Chaos Control!"

* * *

><p><strong>Oh the shortness ain't even funny. Screw it. It will get longer.<strong>


	5. Gawain

**Gawain**

Shadow appeared at the entrance of the Kingdom of Fire, his cloak billowing behind him. He pulled his mask up, covering his face and hiding his identitiy.

As he entered a small inn, he found a group of girls gathered around the front desk, chattering away.

"Hey, hey have you heard? The king is looking for a wife!" The pink girl said.

"You serious? After all this time?"

The girls continued on, not noticing Shadow's presence behind them until he cleared his throat. They looked up and moved a bit, allowing him some space to sit down with them. Shadow almost hesitantly took the seat, not knowing what he was getting himself into.

"Hello! I'm Amy! Nice to meet you!" The pink hedgehog smiled. She motioned towards her other friends. "This is Wave and Marine." The swallow and racoon waved.

"Lancelot." He whispered.

Wave batted her eyelashes in a way that Shadow could tell she wore tons of make-up. He eyed her hand warily as it slid over to his. Shadow pulled back his hand, making sure to drop one of his things to look like he was picking it up instead of dodging her grabby hands. She wasn't his type.

Not that he had a type.

"So Lancelot. What are you doing around here?" Amy asked.

Shadow stayed silent, eyeing someone who looked responsible standing in the corner. He stood up and walked away from the group of girls, muttering an apology and forcing a smile.

"Good day sir. Do you know where I could pay for a room?"

Purple eyes stared at Shadow warily before motioning for him to follow. Shadow was lead into what seemed like a small workroom with papers littered all over the floor.

The purple-eyed male placed his gloved hands on Shadow's shoulders. "What is your real identity?"

Shadow frowned. He was sure Mephiles hadn't leaked out information of his subjects. Especially him.

The other man suddenly grinned, slapping his hand on Shadow's back and giving a low hearty laugh.

"Man, you should have seen the look on your face!" He chuckled. "You may call me Gawain."

Shadow forced himself to smile, mentally cursing the man for frightening him. "Lancelot." He answered back.

"Well Lancelot, let me help you find a room," Gawain dug through a few papers. "I would think you'd want one separate from the others correct?"

Shadow watched as the echidna pulled out a form from under a stack of papers. Gawain pushed everything on his desk off, leaving pen and ink.

"Alright," He bit down onto the back end of his pen. "Double bed, away from others, plenty of space, I'm sure this one is perfect for you." He said, place the paper down so that it faced Shadow.

Shadow scanned through the paper, making sure to read every last bit of information, mainly the the price. It certainly wasn't too bad, being thirty-some rings per week. He would just have Mephiles pay most of it off when he returned.

Taking the pen from Gawain's outstretched hand, Shadow signed the document, collecting his small amount of belongings and taking the key to his temporary room.

"Enjoy and all. Call one of the workers if you need anything." Shadow received a hard slap to the back. "They're the girls you were talking to near the front."

Shadow grunted and exited the messy room, sighing as he breathed in fresher air. The echidna definitely needed to clean the room, he decided.

He glanced at his room number and began walking up the stairs, searching for the number 215. It was on the second floor he was sure, and was hopefully somewhat near the back.

He found the room hidden in a corner.

Shadow huffed and stuck the key in the keyhole, turning it. He was greeted with a nice dark room with several bookshelves a couch, a comfy looking double bed, and somebody's belongings scattered on the bed.

Shadow frowned when he heard the sound of boots running across wooden floor.

"Sorry!" Gawain announced as he showed up at the doorway. "Forgot to mention you'll be sharing. I'm sure you'll get along famously."

Shadow wanted die at that very moment. Or punch the echidna in the face. Either worked.

Gonna be uploading a ton of chapters today!


	6. Allies

**Allies**

There was nothing Shadow wanted to do more at the moment than murder Gawain.

"Do you need me to hurt you?" Shadow cracked his knuckles. "Because I'd gladly do so."

Gawain laughed nervously, backing slowly away. He suddenly tore down the halls, screaming bloody murder before crashing into something that Shadow decided was probably a piece of pottery.

Shadow wandered into the room that was just slightly too messy for him to stand. At least, half of it was. He dropped his things onto the double bed near the back of the room and smoothed out the sheets, tossing whatever was on them onto the ground.

He explored the area, finding a small kitchen, a locked door he supposed his 'roommate' was currently behind, and a dining area. By the locked door were a couple of weapons.

"Hello?" He knocked on the door.

The door cracked open. Shadow made out a sharp glowing eye. "I'm Lancelot, the other occupant of this room." He introduced himself. "Pleasure to meet you."

The man coughed and pulled a mask over the bottom half of his face. "Call me Soul." Soul was apparently a slender but well built man who dressed himself in dark armoured clothing.

"You may take the bed for the evening." Soul said. "I will most likely be out."

"Right," Shadow made his way towards the door, his goal to stay away from Soul. "I'll be heading out to acquire some supplies." He almost would have made it out too, if it wasn't for the gloved hand now holding his arm.

"You're goal is to speak with the king, is it not?"

"How can you be sure? I could be here to assassinate a random criminal for all you know."

"Don't know, don't care." Soul pulled an envelope out. "I just happen to have an invitation to the King's masquerade ball. Seems like he's in search of a fiancee."

"Explain."

"Oh, well," He shrugged. "I dunno, but you could totally pass as a woman. Not that I was suggesting that you go in a dress and all."

"You're making a bad impression on me."

Soul laughed. "You could always sneak in."

Shadow stared at him, a disapproving look on his face. "I'll make sure to do that." He said. "Have fun walking in through the front door."

Shadow stood by the front entrance of the King's castle, wearing dark attire and carrying a blade on his back. He hid in the shadows of foliage, leaning against the trunk of a tree that Soul was also leaning on.

"Lancelot, are you sure you won't be getting yourself killed tonight?" Soul said. "We could always get you fitted for a gown."

Shadow seethed. "I don't plan on wearing women's clothes, thank you."

Soul laughed, pushing himself away from the tree. "I won't be helping you out in any way," He said with a smile. "Just so you know." He waved at a few girls as he walked away, making them giggle.

Shadow scowled as he pulled out his chaos emerald. "I won't need your help anyways." He mumbled.

The chaos emerald in his hand sparkled in the moonlight as he raised it up towards the sky. "Chaos control." The emerald flashed as Shadow disappeared.

Nearby, Soul's ear twitched. "That may not be the right choice Lancelot."

Shadow landed in a rather fancy bedroom, the amount of gold around surprising him. His slipped the chaos emerald back into his satchel. The room was quite a sight, much larger than any of the rooms in Mephiles's castle.

He quickly moved out of the room, ducking behind one of the many curtains whenever a servant would walk by.

"I'll kill Mephiles when I get back."

Shadow snuck into what appeared to be a large closet brimming with clothes royalty would wear. "I'll just borrow one of these I'm sure King Sonic wouldn't mind." He grinned.

Shadow had chosen a white suit to wear that was hidden towards the back of the closet. He snuck his own stuff behind a cracked mirror, placing the chaos emerald into his quills.

"Though this mask turned out to be useful." Shadow put on a black mask, framed with gold and a white feather given to him by his king. It covered the area around his eyes, making his scarlet irises stand out even more.

Shadow was caught walking around the castle later by a servant who directed him towards the reception hall. She had looked eerily like the King of Fire. Shadow assumed it was coincidence.

The reception hall was filled with many people, mainly women in search of the King and his riches. At least that's what Shadow was positive they were there for.

He slipped into the crowd, making his way to the tables covered with food from all over. (His favorite was this one type of pudding.) Shadow made sure to try a bit of everything, finding many foreign delicacies he had never had at home.

The Kingdom of Water had only recently reestablished itself and royalty ate food similar to any of the villagers, so Shadow didn't have many chances to eat fancy food from places across the world. This, however, was appreciated among the citizens and led to the King, Mephiles, better connecting with his people.

Shadow found himself reflecting on the incident from many years ago, when Sonic had paid a visit to their area and stayed in their house. He now knew that it was a mistake to let him even near him, however knowing the King's personality would provide well on his mission.

"Good evening Lancelot!" A shrill voice interrupted Shadow's thoughts. He turned to find the pink haired girl (Emelia?) he had met at the inn. She had her golden mask in her hand and was wearing a matching ball gown.

"Good evening..." Shadow paused, not quite remembering her name.

"I'm Amy, I met you at the inn earlier." She said. "I'm surprised to find you here though, were you invited from another kingdom?"

Shadow nodded his head to avoid anything that may leak out his affiliation.

Amy slipped her mask back on. "Why don't we move to the ball room? I heard the king will be there soon."

Shadow followed her as she pushed through the large groups of men and women. Amy had made a better impression on him this time and he was quite glad she didn't seem to be after him romantically or sexually.

They entered the ball room, which was decorated with gold and many paintings all the wall of the royal family, the one right above the throne being a painting of Sonic. The king sat on the throne watching over everyone rather than participating in any of the dancing, looking rather bored.

Amy grabbed both of Shadow's hands as a new song began playing and she followed the nearby couples around them in dance. Shadow followed her movements, though he was quite out of practice. The last time he had danced had been with Maria.

"I want you to know that I know Mephiles sent you." Amy whispered into his ear. "I received a letter from him with the details of your mission."

Shadow's eyes widened but he let her continue talking as they danced.

"You are to capture his heart and him," Amy continued, "bring him back to Mephiles to cause some commotion. We have chosen someone to take over the Kingdom of Fire and prevent what happened years ago from happening again."

The song ended and Amy stepped back from him. "I don't know who you are Lancelot, but I'll be by your side."

She disappeared into the crowd, leaving Shadow rather confused but also pissed. He was real pissed. Once again, Mephiles was meddling with his life, except this time he had to woo the king he despised and bring him back to the Kingdom of Water.

"Meeting the ladies are we?" Soul's voice came from behind him, his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Lancelot, I thought you were on important business."

Shadow pushed the hand away from him. "I am."

Many months later, I am back!

If anyone reads this note thing, I'm letting you know that Soul isn't actually an OC but someone undercover. But I refuse to tell anyone who it is so just view him however you want.


	7. The King

**The King**

"So," Soul started, "how have you been?"

Shadow frowned. "I saw you less then two hours ago," he said, "what makes you think my life has suddenly changed?"

Soul circled around Shadow, inspecting the clothing he was wearing. Shadow tapped his foot impatiently, watching Soul as he spun around him.

"Well, for one, you look much better dressed. Two," Soul listed, "I'm pretty sure that's the Kingdom's insignia on your chest." He said, pointing at a small red flame on Shadow's jacket. "I know that you are not from around here."

"How could you be so sure?" Shadow asked. Soul never got to answer as he was quickly distracted by everyone standing in silence around them.

The musicians quieted down as the King walked towards the throne, followed by his brother, Manic, and his sister, Sonia, both holding their own masks. Sonic sat down in the throne, as his brother stood forwards to speak to the people.

"Good evening everyone!" He greeted. "I would like to welcome my dear brother, who is finally gracing us with his presence!" Some members of the audience chuckled, causing Manic to smile. "We are gathered today to help find him a wife to rule with and I can see many fit young ladies for this job already."

Sonia took her brother's spot as Manic stepped back. "Remember everyone, you are also here to have a great time. Not everyone has the liberty to be here, so enjoy your time." Shadow frowned at her words, annoyed by the favoritism of wealthier families.

Occasionally, though very rarely, Mephiles would host parties in the castle. They would be open to everyone in the village, though often they would have to relocate to the streets due to the amount of people. Shadow was always pleased by the people smiling and enjoying themselves.

Now as he looked at the higher class all gathered into one huge ballroom, sipping at wine, the women smothered in make-up, hoping to be chosen to marry the king so they could get what they wanted, he felt disgusted.

Both Manic and Sonia had stepped down and merged into the audience. The people began to talk again, the room filling with noise as many people tried to make their way towards royalty. At some point, Manic had made his was back to his brother's side.

Soul was pushing Shadow forwards, in an effort to try to get the pissed look off his face. "Lancelot, this is your chance to take action, you know?" He frowned when Shadow began to push back against his hand, backing away from the king. "Lancelot are you alright?"

"Silence!" A castle guard called out as Sonic rose from his throne. "The king is about to speak!"

Sonic stood proudly, his brother standing close behind him. "I would like to remind everyone once again," Sonic said, "that I am looking for a partner who will rule with me. However there are certain traits I would like them to have." He started holding up his fingers to list the items.

Shadow bit down on his bottom lip.

"I'm looking for a male," the audience gasped, "covered in bright red stripes, blood colored eyes..."

Soul glanced at Shadow, concerned. "I'm sure it's a coincidence Lancelot." He said. "He can't be possibly be talking about you."

"...by the name of Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow gasped, quickly covering his mouth to prevent further noise before the audience broke out in confusion. He heard murmurs about Sonic being homosexual, comments over how stupid the king was, and other rude thoughta. He rushed away from Soul, towards the main entrance of the castle, leaving behind the small bag he had his behind the cracked mirror. He hadn't left much in that stupid closet anyways.

Soul chased after him.

"Lancelot, are you alright?"

"Shut up, what do you know?!" Shadow gripped at his head, curling up as Soul stood in front of him, a solemn look on his face.

Soul placed his hand onto Shadow's shoulder. "I may not know much about you, practically nothing even, but I know something's not right." Shadow inched away from him. "Who are you Lancelot?"

"Nobody you need to know about." Shadow mumbled.

Moments passed before Soul sighed and sat down next to Shadow, pulling his knees to his chest. "You know," he started, "I heard that woman talking to you earlier, she was quite beautiful."

Shadow stayed silent, but waited for Soul to continue.

"You're one of Mephiles's aren't you? The Kingdom of Water?" Soul questioned. "Lancelot?"

Shadow nodded, loosening his tight hold around his legs and relaxing. "Yeah. That's where I'm from. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Soul threw his hands up in defense. "Oh no, I didn't mean it that way!" He grinned. "In fact, where you're from is so much nicer than it is here. Mind taking me there sometime?"

Shadow chuckled. "I just might Soul." Their fingers brushed as he moved into a more comfortable position. "I just might."

The two of them returned to the inn they were staying in, Shadow offering to take the couch for that night along the way. That lead to protests from Soul, however Shadow wouldn't budge even as they were both settling down to sleep. They would switch the next day.

The days after the ball were quite peaceful besides the hullabaloo from the citizens of the kingdom, most of them trying to discover who "Shadow the Hedgehog" was. Shadow made sure to walk around with a cape and hood on. Rumours were spread around and eventually there were complaints over why the king would not take a woman as his partner and how much of a failure the ball was.

Soul had made a point to stay by Shadow for the first few days before finally letting him wander around and enjoy just being in the outskirts of the town by himself. Shadow had gotten himself a few jobs, mainly to earn some money to buy souvenirs for friends back home, but he spoiled himself by replacing the things he had lost in the castle.

That was also around the time that Shadow decided he was going to head back to the Kingdom of Water, deciding that he was going to bring Soul along with him, promising Soul a chat with Mephiles, who he was sure had nothing to do anyways besides order Shadow to run around.

"You told me we'd get there in a flash. But how?" Soul asked.

Shadow moved their location to an emptier alleyway before he pulled out his glowing green chaos emerald. "We'll go with this."

Soul's eyes grew in awe as he admired the glowing green emerald. "Where did you get that? I thought they were all missing?"

"Don't question it. Just hold on." Shadow said, grabbing onto Soul's wrist. "I don't want to get noticed by the guards and this requires quite a large amount of chaos energy." Shadow raised up the emerald.

"Wait a sec-" Soul was cut off by Shadow.

"Chaos Control!"

Thanks for reading! There was only a brief appearance of Sonic but he'll appear soon (though not in the next update, sorry).


	8. Kingdom of Water

**Kingdom of Water**

"Mephiles, I'm sure he's only back to report to you," Rouge said, "Shadow will be fine."

"He's not fine." Mephiles huffed. "It's only been less than two weeks and recieved a letter from Amy only two days ago."

The two of them walked down a hallway of the castle, towards the area where Tails had detected a spike in chaos energy. Rouge groaned as Mephiles quickened his pace, speeding up to catch up with him.

"Look," Rouge sighed, "I know you care about him but he's probably the best spy we have besides, I don't know, Espio and he'll have a perfectly reasonable excuse to be using his chaos emerald."

"But there another person with him and it's not Sonic!" Mephiles retorted.

"Shut up, I'm not dealing with you today." Rouge increased her pace, rushing ahead of Mephiles. "I'm going to pick up Maria, she'll probably coax more out of Shadow than you ever will."

She rushed away, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked, the sound echoing. As Rouge went her way, she shouted an insult at Mephiles, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway alone.

"Fuck bats." Mephiles grumbled.

He continued his way towards the energy spike, nodding his head at anyone he happened to pass by. He noticed he was heading towards the throne room, the grandest place in the kingdom and also the most useless place ever.

Mephiles pushed open the double doors, coming face to face with a stranger that had the lower half of their face covered with a mask. Shadow stood a few feet away, looking surprised.

"Who are you?" Mephiles demanded, eyeing the stranger warily.

The stranger stuttered, trying to find words to say as Shadow walked over, slipping his chaos emerald back into his quills. He motioned for the stranger to stop trying.

"This is Soul," Shadow said, "I met him during the trip. We shared a room."

Mephiles watched the stranger, Soul, nod his head in agreement still searching to find words until he settled on bowing. "It's very nice to meet you King Mephiles!" Soul said enthusiastically. "I admire your kind ways!"

"Why, thank you Soul." Mephiles felt quite flattered, though he hid it.

Shadow pulled out a box from the bag he had been carrying, handing it over to Mephiles as he exited the room. "I didn't know what to get you so here's a box of chocolates." He said, pulling Soul with him as he ran away from the throne room.

Mephiles stood there for a few seconds before registering what had just happened. "What do you mean 'here's a box of chocolates'! Come back here!" He shouted, rushing after the duo.

By the time Shadow had made it to his room, Mephiles was only a few feet away. As Soul entered, Shadow slammed the door close and made sure to lock it, hearing Mephiles shouting profanities at him as he pounded on the door.

"Lancelot why are running from the King?" Soul asked, panting from the running he had just done to catch up with Shadow.

"No special reason," Shadow paused, "I just happened to fuck everything up." He sighed and leaned over, resting his head in his hands.

Mephiles's shouting continued for a few moments until he stopped abruptly. His pounding on the door was replaced with light taps that Shadow refused to answer to. The taps soon changed to the doorknob shaking slightly until the door suddenly opened, Rouge standing proudly in the doorway with Maria and Mephiles behind her.

"I picked the lock." Rouge announced proudly. She looked over at Soul, who was frozen in place, and back at Shadow. "Where did you pick up this hunk Shadow? Mind if I take him?"

"Wait, what?" Soul jumped at the mention of Shadow's actual name. "I thought he was Lancelot?" He looked worriedly at Shadow who made a point to look and be as far away as he possibly could at that moment, shrinking behind Maria and Rouge.

"Lancelot? That's just some knight guy Shadow admires, he must have used it for the mission." Rouge sighed, "Messing up relationships again. Troublesome."

Soul stammered, staring at Shadow with wide eyes. "You lied." He whispered. "It was all a lie."

"I know." Shadow said quietly back, not wanting to start a scene.

"I'm sure he did it for both your and his safety Soul!" Maria jumped in. "Shadow always protects people important to him! I'm sure he never meant to harm you, right Shadow?"

"Of course Maria." Shadow agreed.

Maria nodded enthusiastically. "That's right! Shadow even takes care of the orphans more often than anyone else." She said, trying to remember things to justify Shadow's actions. "I recall a time when a prince, Sonic, I think, visited us and Shadow was extremely protective over the children we had living in our home! He even sung a lullaby to Cream, who was just a little baby at the time, poor girl, losing her mother so early."

Soul ignored most of her rambling besides certain parts. "Wait you mean the Sonic? As in the king of the Fire Kingdom? The one that's interested in Lance- I mean Shadow as a partner?"

"That was why you decided to come back? Using the chaos emerald?!" Mephiles fumed. "That would've made everything so much easier! Didn't you listen to anything Amy Rose said?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just have a sadistic bastard pining for my love and I can't hear you over my agony! Like you know anything!" Shadow yelled back. "Why don't you just paint your stripes red and steal him yourself? It's not like he announced to the entirety of the Fire Kingdom that he was searching for you to fuck!"

"Shadow! Not in front of Maria!" Rouge cried out.

Maria started to protest against Rouge ordering Shadow around as everyone shouted at each other, Soul joining in at some point and shouting at Shadow that he should have trusted him. The room was in utter chaos for minutes until everyone was either too tired to continue or managed to lose their voice.

They crowded around Shadow's bed, Soul falling backwards onto it. "I can't believe this is all happening so fast." He murmured.

"None of it is your fault." Shadow said, quiet enough so that only Soul could hear him from his position on the bed.

"Thanks Lan- Shadow." Soul whispered back.

Everyone in the room stayed quiet for awhile, not wanting to get into another argument just after they managed to end one. Mephiles began making small talk with Soul, the two of them getting to know each other. Soul was still rather excited that he was meeting and talking to Mephiles.

"So," Rouge started talking to Shadow, "how was your trip?"

Shadow shrugged. "Alright, Sonic seems to be a little more messed up than he was before." He said while searching around in his bag. "By the way, I bought you and Maria some clothes, hopefully you're not gonna burn them."

"Thank you so much Shadow!" Maria said, delighted. "You didn't have to!"

"It's alright I had the mo-" Shadow started before he was captured by Rouge in a bone-crushing hug.

"You never get me anything!" She said, ruffling the top of Shadow's head. "About time you thanked me for everything I've done for you!"

Later, they regrouped in Mephiles's office, where Tails and Cosmos were chatting away, discussing details of another mission.

Cosmos noticed the others upon them entering. "Mother! You're home early!" She grinned at Shadow.

The striped hedgehog patted her on the head, handing her a small box with a piece of jewelry inside. "Yeah, yeah, I'm home."

Behind him, Rouge giggled as Maria explained to Soul why Shadow was referred to as Mother instead of something else. Shadow's eye twitched as Rouge's laughs grew louder.

"Welcome back Shadow, I've already heard about what happened from Mephiles." Tails said, scribbling away on a piece of paper. "I'm already formulating another plan." Noticing Shadow's sudden face of panic, he added, "It won't be for another month or so and we'll be sending Amy Rose or Espio with you, we're still deciding."

"Do you mind adding me?" Soul asked. "I know the area quite well and I have friends who'll be able to help out."

"Sure." Tails said, writing a note at the top of the paper and ignoring the rest of what Soul said. "I'll send you with Shadow, er..."

"I'm Soul."

Tails nodded. "Soul right." He muttered something under his breath but continued scribbling away.

"Well then," Mephiles spoke suddenly, "Shadow, why don't you show Soul to a guest room and then settle down yourself?"

Last update for today! As a reminder, Shadow took care of many children, receiving the name Mama or Mother. The main children (who will be mentioned from here on out) he took care of were Silver, Tails, Cosmos, and Cream.


End file.
